The Nostalgic Reader

This time of year, I find myself remembering long summer afternoons spent under a spreading willow tree, lying on a picnic blanket, drinking iced tea, and reading to my heart’s content. On a day like that, what books could be better than the sort I used to find on my grandmother’s shelves? (It was her willow tree and her picnic blanket, after all.) Of course then I noticed that those books – and others like them – are also to be found on my mother’s shelves, and now they’ve started to sneak onto mine...

Certain books will always tie you to times, places, and people from your own past. Picking up that particular book can be a powerful reminder of an outlook or dream we once had. It may reconnect us to things that were once extremely important to us – and perhaps still are, only in danger of being forgotten in the midst of busy days and distractions.

So whether you find yourself on a picnic blanket, a bench in the garden, or an oversized chair on a front porch – whether you’re in a patch of sunshine or safely tucked in on the dry side of a rainy window – I hope this inspires you to reach for the books you get nostalgic for.